Top Tips when buying a Carpet

Here at GOC Carpets  our team are highly qualified with vast years of experience in the flooring industry. We take pride in our customer service and our 100% commitment to our clients, so when it comes to buying a carpet we are happy to give you some expert advice.

Here are some top tips to consider when purchasing a carpet.

First thing to consider is the traffic in the area where the carpet will be fitted.

• Carpet suitability for wear -according to traffic and area carpet is being fitted
• Light domestic: bedrooms are rooms with light traffic.
• Medium domestic: bedrooms with heavy traffic, downstairs rooms with moderate traffic.
• Heavy domestic: anywhere in the house that has heavy traffic.
• Extra heavy domestic / contact :  very heavy traffic areas including hotels, guesthouses, all areas of public wear.
• Heavy contract: this covers all contract areas that have high volume of traffic.

The Second item to consider is Pile Height & Density of Pile

When purchasing a carpet lots of people are drawn to heavy high pile carpets because they feel soft.

In general if the pile height is long it can lack density, hence where it can certainly feel and look luxurious in general they can also flatten and get matted quite easily.

When asked for advice in this area I like to recommend short pile height and dense pile content, which tends to keep its appearance longer.

So rule of thumb is the longer the pile the quicker it flattens. The shorter the pile with high tuft content the longer it keeps its appearance

Carpets can wear for a long time but can wear ugly (loose their appearance quite fast).

You should also consider the different textures in plain carpets

Plain carpets, more so than patterned carpets have been more popular in the last 15 years.

There are basically four different types of plain carpet and each have their own variations, in each finish, however to keep it simple there are the following categories:

• Velvet texture – this is a solid velour type finish and generally has a short pile with a dense pile construction.
• Twist pile  –  this has a more coarse look and can have one colour of a blend of colour (tweed look), usually as a short pile and can vary in density.
• Natural texture – also known as loop pile texture this look has a loop or textured finish which does not  feel as soft to handle but can be very durable . With a heavy underlay it can feel soft underfoot.  So this is a visual look which appeals to a lot of people often used on stairs & landings with a runner on the stairs.
• Saxony – this is usually a longer pile carpet which always feels soft to walk on, particularly if it has a thick underlay. Often it will have on the label – suitable for heavy domestic wear, but as i have said before it tends to flatten quicker.

GOC Carpets was established to cater for the domestic, hotel, pub & leisure industry as well as the corporate sector. We have built a superb reputation for offering a personal service so regardless of your budget call into our extensive showroom and let our professional advisors help you with your next flooring purchase.

See some samples of our extensive carpet range here